1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording/reproducing apparatus capable of transmitting data to a network such as the Internet, and more particularly to an apparatus, such as a video camera, a digital camera, etc., capable of recording images in a tape medium, a memory-card medium, or a disk medium, etc., for use by being connected to a network, and to a control method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Up to now, in a video camera for recording moving images into a recording medium such as a tape, etc., the video camera is capable of transmitting and receiving image data to another terminal on a network such as the Internet directly from the video camera or via a personal computer.
Also, the video camera can be remotely operated from another terminal on a network. For example, FIG. 6 shows a state in which a video camera is connected to a network. Reference numeral 1 denotes a video camera main unit, reference numeral 2 denotes a terminal such as a personal computer, reference numeral 3 denotes a network, and reference numeral 4 denotes a terminal on the network. In this network mode, a situation in which the video camera main unit 1 is operated from the terminal 4 is assumed.
Incidentally, an image recorded on a tape in a video camera, etc., might be overwritten by other images or erased by the operation of another terminal connected to the network.
In order to prevent this, a cassette containing a recording medium tape usually has an accidental-erasure-prevention tab. By setting the tab to an accidental-erasure-prohibited position, overwrite and erasure by mistake are prevented.
However, in the accidental-erasure-prohibited state, recording and erasure become impossible not only by a remote operation, but also by the video camera main unit, and thus it is necessary for the user to set the cassette to an accidental-erasure-prohibited state only when connected to a network. This is very troublesome for the user, and the user sometimes undesirably connects the video camera to a network while neglecting to set the cassette to the accidental-erasure-prohibited state.